In Defense of Transgender Military Service Members

A Wider Bridge

A Wider Bridge is deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court has reinstated President Trump’s partial ban on transgender people in the United States Military.

Transgender Americans who wish to serve their country deserve the same respect and decency from their representative government as cisgender people. The administration’s proposed policies, which would strip trans people of their dignity, are rooted in bigotry and fear. These policies echo similar efforts throughout history to discriminate against gays and lesbians, immigrants, people of color, Muslims and Jews.

Gay, Communist, Yiddish Utopia

By Vladislav Davidzon for Tablet Magazine

One morose and rainy Sunday afternoon in late November, the kind that presages the final days of a New York autumn, a motley group of intellectuals and connoisseurs of Yiddish gathered on the Lower East Side. The Russian-American conceptual artist Yevgeniy Fiks was on hand to deliver an artist talk and personalized tour of his charming exhibition “Yiddish Cosmos” (through Dec. 16), a playful historical jaunt through the history of the Jewish aspects of the Soviet space program. The exhibition was arranged on the second floor of the Stanton Street Shul, one of the last functioning Orthodox synagogues in the neighborhood. Beneath stylish prints of the Soviet cosmonaut Boris Volynov—who was the first Jew in space, and would have been one of the very first men in space if his historical flight along with Yuri Gagarin on the first Voskhod rocket mission had not been bumped because of his ethnicity—were futurist Yiddish slogans.

This Deaf Jewish-Asian Transgender Model Just Made History

Posted on January 28th, 2019

By Bonnie Azoulay for The Forward

Chella Man is the first deaf Jewish-Asian model to sign with IMG — one of the most prominent modeling agencies in the world. The agency, which is known for an inclusive work environment, boasts a rolodex of models including Bella Hadid, Hailey Baldwin, Ashley Graham and other industry giants.

“There is an extreme lack of representation for young, Deaf, queer, Jewish, Asian, transgender artists — sorry, that is a mouthful!” he told Teen Vogue. “I decided to be my own representation,” he said.

Christian pastor who posted anti-LGBT signs gets kicked out by his congregation

Posted on January 21st, 2019

By Sky Palma for DeadState

Not Jewish news, but happy to see how churches are reacting to the hate.

YREKA, CALIFORNIA — A pastor at a Northern California Presbyterian church was ousted by his congregation after he posted anti-LGBT messages on a sign outside his church, NBC News reports.

In a post to his Facebook page this past weekend, Pastor Justin Hoke announced his removal.

“As of today, I am no longer the pastor of Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church,” Hoke wrote. “I was informed that essentially all but one couple in membership would leave the church if I continued as pastor.”